I write this because I am scared usually I do not fear but god help me. I have a decent grasp of C++ and programming but everytime I go to something this big like Unreal 4 I get scared. I just can not grasp how to learn the API. I try to read the documentation but is it the best way. I feel like I am hands on kind of guy, but I don’t know. I want to keep going forward and master it. What’s the best way to learn on hands on just run in and mash it up? If I use blueprints I feel like I am not doing it the real way.
Follow this tutorial first: C++ Battery Collector: Introduction | 01 | v4.9 Tutorial Series | Unreal Engine - YouTube
If you know C++ you can start right after that tut.
However best way to learn unreal ways of doing stuff are blueprints. With blueprints you hvae much better hints about how to do stuff, than trying to guess C++ api.
Also best way of doing projects in unreal is mix of blueprints and c++. So you need to learn blueprints anyway.
Starting with Blueprints then progressing to C++ when you’ve learnt a bit of the API (functions etc from BP) is the easiet way IMO. Getting a copy of Visual Assist X is pretty much essential if you want to code quickly in UE4, the auto-complete feature helped me learn much faster.
Create a project in BP first, then try to convert to C++. Rinse and Repeat until you know enough to just crack on in C++ 